


cages and beds

by calamitas



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-15
Updated: 2015-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-20 21:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4802078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calamitas/pseuds/calamitas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>York comes back to his room at the end of the day to find a Carolina in his bed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cages and beds

The thing about Carolina is that she commands the space of the bed just as much as she commands every other space she inhabits. Her bed is so obviously  _hers_  but even when they spend the night in York’s room it’s like his bed’s been waiting anxiously for her and welcomes her with creaky sighs. York wishes that he could get a stronger sense of satisfaction from seeing her splayed out on his bed, bangs and hair where ever it felt like and her shirt rumpled, because it’s almost like he has her to himself, has some sort of hold on her, but she’s untouchable. Cages could never keep her in and beds would have no better results.

There’s no real complaints from York, however. Not when she pulls him down, his knees bumping against the edge of the bed right before he kneels onto the mattress and slides over her at her prompting. He’s got this grin going on that pulls at the still-tender scar at the corner of his eye, and Carolina keeps her left hand twisted in the slack of York’s shirt but her right hand comes up to brush her thumb at the edges of the scar. It’s an effort not to pull away from her touch, torn between how tender it is in more way than one and the flickering thrill of having her attention and care focused solely on him. The deciding factor is the softness that extends beyond her light caresses; she’s been getting this spiteful, haunted look in her eyes since she first saw it, like it was some sort of personal attack to her, but right now that stays in the shadows of the compassion filling the space. 

Her hand slides down to cup his jaw and it’s easier to smile again without the pressure, easier to smile with the almost-ticklish sweep of her fingers along his neck just under his ear.

“Hey,” his voice is warm, buzzing rich and amber, and Carolina squints in quiet amusement.

“Hey.”

“Most girls usually get me dinner before pulling me into bed.”

Carolina’s eyebrows rise behind her bangs and her fingers still at the edge of his hair at the back of his neck. York’s grin just grows.

“Not that I’m complaining.”

The scritches start up again and move up into the short hairs along the curve of the back of his head. Her nails are rounded and well taken care of, just long enough to make him lean into Carolina’s hand. “I’m not most girls,” she plays along, because York’s always pulled out the corny phrases and jokes from her. Since Club Errera and the lighter and when she took the lighter from his hand and said–

York leans down and Carolina rises to meet his kiss, the hand wrapped up in his shirt twisting and pulling him down and towards her. His weight presses her into the mattress, smoothing her hard edges until she nearly blends in with the setting of his room, and she sighs against his lips at the sense of security it gives her. She thinks she can almost feel the whispers of his heartbeat against hers, strong and steady in the same way York always is when she finds herself occasionally leaning towards him in missions because he’s always right there behind her. It’s always been them at the top, Carolina beating him out by decimals, and he’s been lagging behind since his injury but he’s starting to get things together again.

His fingers card through her hair, skimming over her ear, until he reaches the ponytail at the base of her skull and pulls the band away to drop off the side of the bed. Carolina’s trying to coax him into something a little faster, her hand at the back of his head pressing him down firmly, but for all her encouragement he takes it slow and enjoys each second. When they part to breathe York pulls away slowly, noses brushing against each other because Carolina won’t let up even when they need to take little breaks since she has this undying push to get exactly what she wants. 

“Definitely no complaints here,” York shares, whispering the words onto her lips, which pull up into a smile in response. It takes another tug before he’s smothering her smile with his and when he laughs Carolina pulls away to affectionately nip at his jaw.

York rolls off to the side, pulling Carolina along with him and she slips her arms over his shoulders and squeezes up close. She’s exhausted, spent a long day running through simulations, and had only been waiting for York to get back so she could sleep. York’s head has been killing him all day long, but it was nice to see her in his room and when he presses his forehead against her cheek the warmth settles some of the ache.

Carolina sighs as his hands knead at her back, following up her spine. Peeking an eye open, she looks down at his face as best she can at this angle but it doesn’t work out well so she shuts them again. “How was your day?”

“Tiring. Not bad. Head’s been hurting.” York shrugs a bit, hands sliding across her shoulder blades and back down to her waist to wrap around there and hold her closer while he tucks his head under her chin. Her chest rises and falls under his cheek, lulling him down the path to sleep.

“Your head?”

“Mhm,” York feels her restless shifting and rubs his thumbs in circles over her hips to soothe her. “Don’t worry about it, ‘Lina.”

She wants to make a disbelieving noise at that, but holds back. “I don’t  _worry_.”

“Sure you don’t,” he smiles and presses a kiss to Carolina’s collarbone, taking a deep breath against her skin. The action makes her take a deeper breath, makes her hold it a little longer, and when she exhales it’s with a light squeeze of a hug. “Feeling better now that I’m with my girl,” he half-teases, nudging his forehead and nose to fit against her neck.

“Uh- _huh_ ,” Carolina pinches the nearest earlobe she can reach and tugs gently at the comment. “Go to sleep, York.”

“Can I cash in a dinner date later?”

“I never agreed to a dinner date.”

“But it’d be nice, wouldn’t it?”

“Hmm… Maybe.”

“So… You, me, dinner? Tomorrow?”

“Go to sleep and I’ll think about it.”

York pulls back to smile victoriously at her and leans up for a kiss that she resists for a full three seconds before rolling her eyes and dipping her head down to kiss his forehead instead. She nudges him around so she can find a more comfortable place, sliding her leg between his. He knows by now just to let her push him along until she was content because she’d wind up shifting around anyways. Carolina fidgeted a lot trying to get to sleep.

It had taken some getting used to, getting to sleep with Carolina. He’s still not quite used to it. She hogs the blankets, takes up the whole bed if he doesn’t hold her close enough or wiggle himself into her arms, and he was fairly sure it was going to annoy him forever after the first couple of times before he started catching on to the tricks. With Carolina… it was nearly pointless to expect her to change. York had to come to terms that she wasn’t going to meet every expectation he had of her and how it would be to have a relationship with her. 

Of course, he was absolutely smitten with her still, but his feelings had moved more towards genuine grounds than just the fantasy of her as his… whatever she was. “His girl” seems to work for now. As much as she could be his right now, because sometimes he feels like she’s just as much on loan to him as his bed is to her.

By the time Carolina’s settled down again, York’s been half-pulled on top of her and a blanket rests across their stomachs. It’s really not too different from how they were before but Carolina has this quality of fussing around for things she already has. York watches her, chin propped up on his hand resting parallel to her collarbone, and when she glances down at him she gives him an odd look.

“Sleep, York.”

“Alright, Carolina."


End file.
